Sharks activate Barclay Goodrow from injured reserve

Fresh off their two best performances of the season, the Sharks received some additional good news this morning as rookie Barclay Goodrow appears to be close to making his NHL debut and was activated by the team from injured reserve. Goodrow, who excelled in the preseason on a line with Chris Tierney, injured his hand blocking a shot in the exhibition finale against Anaheim and has yet to make his professional debut. That could change as soon as tomorrow when the Sharks take on the Wild in Minnesota.

Assuming he’s ready to go, and that’s far from a sure thing given that he’s only had the chance to participate in morning skates with the Sharks thus far and has yet to get into a full-fledged practice session, it’ll be interesting to see where he slots in. Prior to Goodrow’s injury, head coach Todd McLellan initially envisioned him starting the season on a line with Tierney and Tommy Wingels but with Wingels finding success alongside Patrick Marleau and Logan Couture while Tierney has played his best hockey of the season centering Matt Nieto and James Sheppard of late, Goodrow might be in tough to claim a top-nine spot.

Regardless of whether McLellan opts to move Nieto back onto a line with Marleau and Couture in order to give Goodrow a shot at rekindling some chemistry alongside Tierney and Wingels or he chooses to start Goodrow on the fourth line, the speedy buzzsaw of a winger should help improve what was a woeful bottom six for the Sharks in the early going this season. With Sheppard now healthy and Goodrow and Tyler Kennedy poised to return in the near future, the Sharks have the opportunity to replace three sub-NHL players in John Scott, Adam Burish and Tye McGinn with a trio of forwards who can make a positive impact at this level. Of course, Goodrow still has to prove he’s capable of doing that but one thing he doesn’t need to prove is that he has, far and away, the best name on the team.